Loveland, Thompson Valley and Berthoud high school bands qualify for state competitions at Hughes Stadium this weekend

By Shelley Widhalm Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
10/19/2013 05:05:53 PM MDT

Three high school bands will be heading to state competitions this weekend with one of the bands -- Loveland High School's Crimson Regiment -- automatically qualifying for semifinals.

The Crimson Regiment placed first in the Colorado Bandmasters Association north regional competition Wednesday, Oct. 16, at Centaurus High School in Lafayette with a score of 75.9 points. The band is a four-time 4A state marching champion.

Bands across the state compete in five regional competitions to qualify for state, which will be at Hughes Stadium at Colorado State University.

Berthoud High School, a 2A marching band, qualified with a score of 40.9 points and a third-place win. Thompson Valley High School placed sixth as a 4A school scoring 44.4 points.

Those two bands will compete in the preliminary competition, or quarterfinals, Friday to determine qualification for semifinals on Saturday.

The Crimson Regiment's "Contraption" is an eight-minute show simulating the Rube Goldberg Machine with many working parts to do simple activities.

"All of our music is based around machine elements, wheels and industrial sounds," said Kyle Freesen, director of bands for Loveland High School. "It was one of our best performances of the year. We're finally starting to play past the technical parts of the show and put some emotion into the performance."

Freesen is asking the band, the majority of which is underclassmen, to play at a high level, he said.

"We're dealing with how to get the entire show concept to make sense from beginning to end," Freesen said, adding that the band members tell a "cohesive story through music and the visual elements we ask them to perform."

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